Apartments are things in which most non-freshman students live (except engineering students, who live in Kemper Hall). Some apartments can be found just a block away from campus, but those closest to campus are usually older. While we try to list as many apartment complexes as we've seen around town, many of the smaller and older complexes only advertise through a property management firm, or by word of mouth. Rent in Davis can be as low as $250 or so if you share a room; take a look at our Rental Housing Guide for tips on housing within Davis and things to consider for first-time renters. Davis provides affordable housing to low income individuals through the Section 8 Voucher program, and some low income rental communities are offered through CHOC - participating apartment complexes are identified. Apartment complexes that are known to offer month-month leases are marked "also offers month-month", but most leases in Davis are annual agreements; some complexes offer 6 month leases and a few may offer an 11 month lease with an optional 12th month. Before the end of your lease, you will be asked to sign a lease renewal. Again, please take a look at our Rental Housing Guide for a more rounded picture of the rental housing situation in Davis.

When comparing rents, be sure to ask what utilities and city services are included. Many Davis apartments charge a separate fee for water usage, garbage service, or sewer service on top of the rent. It is called the NWP bill (National Water and Power bill). This bill is not issued based on how much water you use. Instead, you pay for a percentage of what the complex as a whole uses. A place that offers free Internet and cable may not be quite the deal it seems when you have to pay for your water too. It's also worth considering what kinds of neighbors you would like to have. Some complexes (especially those closest to campus) have reputations as "sophomore dorms" or have a mix of students while others have higher populations of non-students. Other things to consider: Is there a noisy leaf-blower which will disturb you? Is it near a street (so you will be woken by morning garbage and recycling trucks)? Is it on the ground floor (so you will have no privacy -people looking in your windows as they pass by)?

Some complexes have pretty nice managers and maintenance staff, but some owners can be a bit shady — if you end up living at these places you may need to know your tenant rights. On moving day apartment dumpsters are ransacked and the town turns to chaos. One of the best things you can do is make friends with the maintenance crew. Usually just acknowledging their existence when you see them is sufficient for this purpose. Once they get to know you, they will often be much better about making timely repairs.

Many apartments in Davis take advantage of students' inexperience in identifying quality housing, low incomes, high demand, and a lack of good alternatives within the Davis housing market. Examples of this (as noted throughout this wiki) include poor maintenance response time, poorly maintained apartments, low construction quality, low quality furnishings, leases that begin and end on exactly the same day throughout Davis, failure to return security deposits in the time required by law, and generally poor treatment of residents. (Note that there is substantial variation in these issues among different apartments.) If you are looking for housing, or if you are currently renting at a complex, be sure that your apartment meets suitable housing standards.

It is a very good idea to consider renters insurance, which will protect your possessions. If your apartment is broken into and all your expensive items are taken, or if a neighbor sets their kitchen on fire and your electronics die of smoke inhalation, you are otherwise simply out of luck.

If you are looking for an apartment, every winter quarter ASUCD hosts its annual Housing Day in Freeborn Hall. It is great opportunity to shop around for off campus housing in one centralized and convenient location. Housing Day 2010 was on 2010-01-21 from 10AM to 3PM and was held in the ARC Pavilion.

West Davis

(West Davis is considered to be bordered by Woodland on the north, Highway 113 on the east, UC Davis on the south & Winters on the west)Some complexes are just a short bike ride away from UC Davis campus Some communities even have a lake as their backyards where you can sail, canoe and even go fishing.

Spreadsheet of Apartments in Davis

Want to find a comparison of (most) of the apartments in Davis in one file? An Excel spreadsheet can be found at Davis Apartment Comparison.xls. An XML version of the spreadsheet can be found at Davis apartments for Davis Wiki.xml. Note that the spreadsheet data was last updated in May, 2007, and price listings are not current (although they should provide a good approximation of the relative prices of apartments). Please feel free to update the spreadsheet and to make it available in different formats. (The XML spreadsheet can be imported by Excel.)

Greystone Apartments [2505 Fifth St (530)758-2200] *160 units. Has a very generous pet policy. There are NO breed restrictions with a 75 pound weight limit and NO pet rent ($600 deposit for dogs and $300 for cats). Up to 3 pets allowed. Greystone also provides numerous separate pet stations throughout the community with plenty of grassy area's for you to walk with your dog. Also, Greystone has many vet-met students due to the generous pet policy.

Stonegate Village Apartments [2950 Portage Bay W (530)756-2950] *148 units. Probably the place where most VetMed Students live at due to the generous pet policy.

Eastlake Apartments They have no breed restrictions but the weight limit is 75 lbs and the pet deposit is $600 and it covers up to three awesome animals

College Square Apartments [801 J Street Davis, CA 95616] (530-756-2654) *240 Units. Our community is pet freindly with no breed restrictions (50 pound weight limit & $400 deposit) you are allowed up to 2 pets, our community also provide 3 separate pet stations throughout our community for you pets with plenty of grassy area's for you to walk with your dog. We also do not charge for any pet rent..